Compensating holder for paper cups



March 22, 1955 H. CAREW 2,704,444

COMPENSATING HOLDER FOR PAPER CUPS Filed April 7, 1950 3 Sheets-Sheet 1Herman Carew' March 22, 1955 H. Ew 2,704,444

COMPENSATING HOLDER FOR PAPER CUPS Filed April 7, 1950 3 Sheets-Sheet 2lllllll Herman Careuf March 2251955 H. cAR w COMPENSATING HOLDER FORPAPER CUPS v 3 Sheets-Sheet 5 Filed April 7, 1950 Herman Carea/ jaw/MH171] 5 4 Z? ii United States Patent COMPENSATIN G HOLDER FOR PAPER CUPSHerman Carew, Easton, Pa., assignor to Dixie Cup Company, Easton, Pa., acorporation of Delaware Application April 7, 1950, Serial No. 154,712

8 Claims. (CI. 65-61) This invention relates to improvements in acompensating holder for paper cups, and more particularly to a holderpossessing characteristics which compensate for the incomplete seatingof a paper cup in the holder, though such cup is held stably in theholder regardless of its incomplete seating, although the invention willhave other uses and purposes as will be apparent to one skilled in theart.

In soda fountains, and other locations where various forms of hot andcold drinks are dispensed commercially, and holders for paper cups,either of the conical or flat bottom variety, are used, such holders areequipped with means for automatically engaging or gripping a part of thecup to hold it against accidental dislodgement. When that cup is seatedcompletely in the holder, the body portion of the holder defining thecup receiving cavity has positive engagement with the cup at severaldifferent locations, if not throughout the entire cavity wall, so thatthe cup is securely and stably held in the holder. In picking up andlodging a cup in a holder, the attendant usually grasps the holder bythe bottom, presses it over the uppermost cup of a stack of invertednested cups, and picks up the topmost cup, with his hands onlycontacting the holder, relying upon the gripping means in the holder tosecure and hold the cup. Should dispensers be utilized, the attendant inthe same manner places the holder over the outermost cup and, stillholding the holder alone, withdraws the cup from the dispenser.Obviously, in soda fountain Work ixceedingly rapid action is essentialespecially during rush ours.

Frequently, however, due to the hustle and bustle of soda fountainservice, an attendant in making a pass to pick up a cup does not seatthat cup completely in the holder, although the gripping means in theholder have engaged the cup sufficiently to retain the cup againstaccidental dislodgement. In most such cases, the gripping means willhave engaged a conical paper cup too near the apex, or a flat bottom cuptoo near the bottom, so that while the cup is held in the holder, thebody of the cup does not positively contact the holder especially nearthe mouth thereof, and the cup is unstably seated. The filling of thecup with a commodity to be dispensed most frequently does not result incompletely seating an improperly seated cup. Accordingly, and this isespecially true in the case of conical paper cups, after the cup isfilled with the commodity it is prone to wabble in an unstable manner tothe dissatisfaction and discomfort of the customer. It is a peculiarfact that the better the gripping means in the holder, that is the morepositive and quick acting the gripping means may be, the more chance ofincompletely seating the cup, especially during the hurry or rush hourwork. Where a float, such as a ball of ice cream, is utilized in theconfection being dispensed, the center of gravity of the cup and itscontents is raised, and the wabbling of an incompletely seated cup isintensified. Obviously, it is not feasible to correct such a situationby relying upon the operator because he either dare not or will not takethe time and care to insure a complete seating of the cup especiallywhen overburdened with rush work.

In other instances, the same difiiculty has risen by virtue of the factthat the holder may not be directed squarely toward the outermost cup ofa stack, and wherein resilient gripping means are employed, with thegripping eleice ments being in the same plane, the cup will not beengaged in a plane transversely of the axis of the cup, but may beengaged in a diagonal plane.

With the foregoing in mind, it is an important object of the instantinvention to provide a cup holder designed to compensate for an insecureseating of a paper cup in the holder, and hold that cup stablyregardless of the incomplete seating.

Another object of the invention is the provision of a holder for a papercup, the holder being so shaped in the wall of the cup defining cavityas to establish several points of contact with an incompletely seatedcup so as to compensate for the incomplete seating and hold the cupstably.

It is also an object of this invention to provide a holder for a papercup embodying means for automatically grippingly engaging the cup toretain it in the holder against accidental dislodgement, and having thewall of the cup defining cavity shaped out of round at least in onelocation therealong to establish wall contact with an incompletelyseated cup.

Another feature of the invention is the provision of a holder for apaper cup, which holder has a shape at the mouth of the cup receivingcavity that is distorted from the circular.

It is also a feature of the invention to provide a holder for a papercup, the holder having a cup receiving cavity therein with the wall ofthe cavity thickened at spaced points therearound to provide points ofcontact with an incompletely seated cup to stabilize the cup, suchthickened locations in the wall of the holder merely distorting acompletely seated cup without detracting from the satisfactory usage ofthe cup.

Still a further feature of the invention resides in the provision of aholder for paper cups, which holder has a somewhat oval shape at themouth of the cup receiving cavity.

It is another object of this invention to provide a holder for papercups, which holder is provided with means for automatically grippinglyengaging the wall of the cup to retain it in the holder againstaccidental dislodgement, such means being floating in character so as toautomatically shift position and effect a proper gripping of the cupregardless whether the holder is moved over the cup in proper alignment.

A further object of the invention resides in the provision of a papercup holder having gripping means therein in the form of a collar fromwhich resilient fingers extend inwardly to engage the wall of the cup,the collar being fioatingly mounted so that the entire gripping assemblymay shift in position at the time of engagement with a cup to effect theproper gripping action.

Broadly, it is an important feature of this invention to provide a papercup holder designed to insure the retention of a cup in the holderagainst accidental dislodgement, to stably hold the cup even if it isincompletely seated in the holder, and to shorten the time heretoforerequired to lodge a cup in a holder, and to eliminate to a great extentthe possibility of a cup ever being lodged in a holder in anunsatisfactory manner.

While some of the more salient features, characteristics and advantagesof the instant invention have been above pointed out, others will becomeapparent from the following disclosures, taken in conjunction with theaccompanying drawings, in which- Figure 1 is an elevational view of aholder with a paper cup completely seated therein;

Figure 2 is an enlarged central vertical sectional view through a holderembodying retaining means, illustrating a cup partly in section andpartly in elevation, but showing what happens when a cup is incompletelyseated in a holder having a cup receiving cavity not in accordance withthe instant invention;

Figure 3 is a transverse plan sectional view of the structure of Fig. 2,taken through the cup just above the mouth of the holder;

Figure 4 is a fragmentary vertical sectional view of the generalcharacter of Fig. 2, but illustrating a holder having a body portionembodying principles of the instant invention, and showing contact withan incompletely seated cup;

Figure 5 is a transverse plan sectional view taken gllitzillgh the cupof Fig. 4 just above the mouth of the Figure 6 is a view of the samecharacter as Fig. 4, but illustritting the cup completely seated in theholder of Figure 7 is a transverse plan sectional view taken through thecup of Fig. 6 just above the mouth of the holder;

Figure 8 is a view similar in character to that of Fig. 4, but showing aholder embodying principles of the instant invention but of a somewhatdifierent form than the holder of Fig. 4;

Figure 9 is a transverse plan sectional view taken through the cup ofFig. 8 just above the mouth of the holder;

Figure 10 is a central vertical sectional view, with the cup shownpartly in elevation, taken substantially as indicated by the line X-X ofFig. 9,

Figure 11 is an enlarged bottom plan sectional view taken substantiallyas indicated by the line XI--XI of Fig. 4, illustrating retaining meansembodying principles of the instant invention; and

Figure 12 is an exaggerated fragmentary vertical sectional view throughthe retaining means of Fig. 11 and the adjacent part of the holder.

As shown on the drawings:

While for illustrative purposes, the instant invention has been shown inassociation with a conical paper cup,

it will of course be apparent to one skilled in the art that theinvention is equally usable with a paper cup of the so-called fiatbottom type, and even with other forms of cups.

Fig. l is merely an elevational view showing a cup holder, generallyindicated by numeral 1, with a conical paper cup 2 completely seated inthat holder. The holder 1 may be of a type heretofore known, or mayembody principles of the instant invention, the showing in this figurebeing made primarily to illustrate that the overall general appearanceis substantially the same as long as a cup is completely seated in theholder, whether the holder is of a type heretofore known or a typeembodying the instant invention.

In order to properly present the instant invention, I have illustratedin Figs. 2 and 3 the effect created by a paper cup being incompletelyseated in a holder having a cup receiving cavity of the type heretoforeknown. The holder is generally of hour glass shape, including a bodyportion 3 and a base portion 4. The body portion 3 defines interiorlythereof a cup receiving cavity 5, the

wall of the cavity being preferably tapered in conformity with the taperof the wall of the cup for which the holder is designed.

The cup receiving cavity 5 is open at the bottom, and

the base of the holder is provided with an annular groove i 6 just belowthe open bottom of the cavity. Retaining means are disposed in thegroove 6 and include a disklike element comprising a collar or rim 7from which a plurality of resilient fingers or teeth 8 extend inwardlyacross a portion of the opening at the bottom of the cavity toautomatically engage the apical portion of a conical cup upon insertion.The retaining means are preferably removably held in position in thegroove by means of a spring ring 9, or the equivalent, this retainingassembly being of the character more fully set forth, described andclaimed in my copending application entitled Holder for Paper Cups,filed September 28, 1948, Serial No. 51,520, issued in Patent No.2,610,491, September 16, 1952.

Now, with reference to Fig. 2, it will be seen that while the cup 2 hasbeen engaged by the resilient fingers 8 sufiiciently to distort the cupwalls as indicated at 10, and quite sufiicient to prevent accidentaldislodgement of the cup from the holder, the cup is not completelyseated in the holder, there being a definite space 11 between the wallof the cup and the wall of the cavity 5. Accordingly, when the cup isfilled, the weight of the cup and its contents are greatly increased,and since the cup is only engaged in a region very close to the apex,the entire cup may wabble back and forth in the space 11. In the eventthe cup contains some floating matter, such as ice cubes, a ball of icecream, or the equivalent, the wabbling is considerably more noticeable,and if actual spilling does not occur, at least the users apprehensionis greatly excited.

Such wabbling of an incompletely seated cup cannot occur with thestructure seen in Figs. 4 and 5. Here, while the holder includes thesame base and the same retaining means assembly as above described, thebody portion 12 of this holder defines a cup receiving cavity 13, andthe body wall which defines the cavity is thickened at spaced pointstherearound as indicated at 14. As illustrated in the drawings, forpurposes of clarity only, the portions 14 are shown as additions to theinterior of the body wall, but it will at once he understood by oneskilled in the art that these portions 14 may be molded along with thebody wall. It is a simple expedient to cut segments from the male diemember, so that in the regions 14 the wall is merely molded or castthicker than elsewhere. Preferably, the holders are molded from metal ora suitable thermoplastic.

In the illustrated instance, the thicker portions 14 of the cavitydefining walls are substantially triangular in shape, with the apexdownward, and in the illustrated instance three such thickened regionsare disclosed, evenly spaced apart. Obviously, some other number couldbe used satisfactorily but three is an easy number to ulse inmanufacture and such number will give perfect resu ts.

As illustrated, the cup 2 has been engaged by the resilient fingers 8 inthe same manner as illustrated in Fig. 2, too close to the apex of thecup. Thus, there will be a space 15 between the cup wall and the cavitywall, but in this case, such space only occurs circumferentially betweenthe thickened portions 14 of the wall. Thus, as seen clearly in Fig. 5,three additional points of contact between the holder and the cup asindicated at 16. Preferably these points of contact are adjacent themouth of the cup receiving cavity so as to bring the stabilizingengagement as high as possible along the cup and as far as possible fromthe engagement of the retaining fingers 8. With this arrangement, itwill be at once noted that regardless of the incomplete seating of thecup, the cup and its contents are stably held by the holder, and therecan be no wabble.

In Figs. 6 and 7 I have illustrated the structure of Fig. 4, but withthe cup 2 completely seated in the holder. It will be noted that theresilient fingers 8 have now engaged and indented the cup wall in theregion 100, farther from the true apex of the cup, and the cup wallcontacts the wall of the cavity entirely therealong and therearound.When such contact is established, the cup is distorted as at 17 by theregions 14 of increased wall thickness, but the cup swells out to itsnatural shape immediately above the mouth of the holder, so that suchdistortion is substantially unnoticeable to the eye, and does not affectthe use of the cup in any manner whatever. If anything, the distortiononly augments the grip of the holder upon the cup.

In Figs. 8, 9 and 10, I have illustrated a still different shaping forthe holder, wherein the holder is also given a contour distorted fromthe circular or out of round at one region along the cup receivingcavity, and in this instance, again, the shaping is occurrent preferablyadjacent the mouth of the holder. In this instance, the holder isprovided with the same base and the same retaining means assembly, butwith a body portion 18 defining a cup receiving cavity 19, and near themouth of the holder this cup receiving cavity is of generally oval shapeas seen clearly in Fig. 9. The cup 2 is shown disposed in the holderincompletely so that there is a space 20 between the cup wall and thecavity wall. However, owing to the oval shape of the mouth of theholder, there will be two additional opposed points of contact 21between the cup wall and the holder, occurring along the short axis ofthe oval. Should any wabbling occur with this structure, there will beonly one movement of the cup along the long axis of the oval until thewall of the cup contacts the holder at the end of the oval, therebyestablishing three points of contact. If that much wabble should occur,the cup and its contents will remain in position after the third pointof contact is established.

In Figs. 11 and 12 I have illustrated my improved form of retainingmeans assembly in a somewhat exaggerated manner. It may be assumed thatthis improved retaining means assembly is used in the holders of Figs. 4to 10 inclusive and in this instance, the holder of Fig. 4 has beenutilized. In Fig. 11 the cup is shown in section in the holder, while inFig. 12 the cup has been removed.

It will be especially noted from the showing in these figures, that thedisk-like retaining member including the collar 7 and the resilientfingers 8, is not of the same diameter as the groove 6 in the holder.Likewise, the composite thickness of the spring ring 9 and the collar 7of the retaining element does not equal the width of the groove 6 in theholder. Therefore, the retaining element is what may be termedfloatingly mounted, and is free to move to the extent defined by thegroove both vertically and laterally. Consequently, the retaining meansare relatively self-adjusting, so that in the event the attendant doesnot hold the holder in alignment with the outermost cup of a stack whenseating a cup in the holder, the retaining means may shift position andthus insure correct lateral engagement of the cup, so that the resilientfingers 8 engage the cup in substantially the same lateral planeapproximately perpendicular to the axis of the cup, rather than in anoblique plane which might occur if the retaining means were rigidlyfixed in position.

From the foregoing, it will be apparent that I have provided a cupholder which in fact expedites the process of seating a cup therein,because the attendant can move as rapidly as possible, even in acareless manner, but by virtue of the construction of the holder, thecup will be stably seated even if incompletely seated. The stableseating of the cup will result from the irregular or out of round shapeof the cavity wall at least one location or region therearound, but withthe use of a floating securing or retaining means assembly incombination with the shaping of the cavity wall there is virtually noopportunity for a cup to assume an unstable position in the holder.Further, the holder may be as economically manufactured and just as longlived as a holder not embodying the improvements of the instantinvention.

It will be understood that modifications and variations may be effectedwithout departing from the scope of the novel concepts of the presentinvention.

I claim as my invention:

1. In a holder for a conical paper cup, a body portion including atubular surface defining a cup receiving cavity having at least oneportion near its mouth congruent to a cup when completely seatedtherein, cup retaining means in said holder to engage the lower part ofthe paper cup and retain the cup against accidental dislodgement, andthe upper part only of the tubular surface being out of round in atransverse plane to provide spaced points of contact with a cup held bysaid retaining means but incompletely seated in said cavity to stabilizethe cup.

2. In a holder for a paper cup, a tubular body portion having an insidecontour to intimately fit a preformed flexible-walled paper cup, saidbody portion being of such size that a fully seated cup projects wellwithout the holder at the month end, cup retaining means in the lowerpart of said body portion, and a formation in said body portion in aregion remote from said retaining means deviating inwardly from thenormal size and shape of the cup to insure wall engagement by the holderwith the cup to steady a cup incompletely seated in said holder butengaged by said retaining means to eliminate wobbling of theincompletely seated cup.

3. In combination, a preformed flexible-walled conical paper cup, and aholder for said cup having a body portion including a tubular surfacedefining a cavity to receive said cup apex first, gripping means in saidholder positioned to hold the cup firmly near the apex againstaccidental dislodgement from the holder, and the mouth end of saidtubular surface being out of round to con tact the cup at a plurality ofpoints and stabilize the cup against wobbling if the cup is incompletelyseated in the holder but engaged by said gripping means.

4. In combination, a preformed flexible-walled conical paper cup, and aholder for said cup having a body portion including a tubular surfacedefining a cavity to receive said cup apex first, gripping means in saidholder positioned to hold the cup firmly near the apex againstaccidental dislodgement from the holder, and the mouth end of saidtubular surface being out of round to contact the cup at a plurality ofpoints and stabilize the cup against wobbling if the cup is incompletelyseated in the holder but engaged by said gripping means, the flexiblewall of the cup shaping itself in accord with the mouth of the holderwhen the cup is snugly seated in the cavity of the holder.

5. In a holder for a preformed paper cup, 9. body part including atubular portion defining a cup receiving cavity having at least oneportion near its mouth congruent to a cup completely seated therein,retaining means in said holder to engage the lower part of the cup andretain the cup in the holder against accidental dislodgement, and saidtubular portion being inwardly thickened at spaced points adjacent themouth of said cavity to contact the wall of a cup engaged by saidretaining means but incompletely seated in the holder to stabilize thecup.

6. A holder for a paper cup, including a body part having a tubularportion defining a cup receiving cavity, a disc-like retaining elementhaving inwardly extending resilient fingers mounted in said holder forfree bodily movement laterally a limited extent, and the mouth end ofsaid tubular portion being out of round to contact the cup at aplurality of points and stabilize the cup against wobbling if the cup isengaged by said fingers but incompletely seated in the holder.

7. In a holder for a preformed paper cup, a body part including atubular portion defining a cup receiving cavity having at least oneportion near its mouth congruent to a cup completely seated therein,retaining means in said holder to engage the lower part of the cup andretain the cup in the holder against accidental dislodgement, and saidtubular portion being out of round but symmetrically so to providespaced points of contact with a cup engaged by said retaining means butincompletely seated in the holder to stabilize the cup.

8. A holder for a conical paper cup, including a body part having atubular portion defining a cup receiving cavity having an opening at thebottom through which the apex of a received cup may extend, said bodypart having a substantially laterally extending surface adja cent thebottom, a cup retaining element in the general form of a disc disposedadjacent said surface, said retainmg element having a central openingdefined by resilient cup engaging fingers extending inwardly at leastpartially over said first mentioned opening to engage the apical portionof a cup, and a member engaging an inner wall of sa1d body partsufliciently below said surface and said retaining element to maintainsaid element in operative position but leave it free for limited bodilyvertical movement, and said element having an outside diameter less thanthe inner diameter of said body part below said surface to permitlimited bodily movement of the element in a lateral direction.

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